In the spring of 1956, bassist Oscar Pettiford, in tandem with producer Creed Taylor, began assembling musicians and arrangers for what would become one of the hippest and sexiest jazz orchestras of the mid-decade period. Two studio albums were recorded for ABC-Paramount, where Creed was head of jazz A&R. Back in 2008, when I interviewed Creed, I asked him about the elegant Pettiford recordings:
JazzWax: The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi albums were superb. They must have been a thrill for you to produce.
Creed Taylor: They were. Oscar and I were great friends. We talked music whenever we got together for dinner or drinks, When the idea for the albums came up, we’d talk about the musicians who were available. Oscar would say, what about so and so? And I’d say fine, but what about so and so? It was like putting together an all-star baseball team. Quincy Jones was there at the very beginning, too, and arranged some of the compositions, though he was uncredited.
Last week, Uptown Records released Oscar Pettiford: New York City 1955-1958, newly discovered live broadcasts of Pettiford's nonet, sextet and big band at New York's Birdland and the Black Pearl on Second Ave., a club owned by Pettiford. As a big fan of Pettiford's Hi-Fi orchestra, I was overjoyed to hear these previously unreleased live recordings. But first, a little background.
Pettiford recorded the first of his two big-band albums for ABC in June 1956. It was called The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra and featured Ernie Royal, Art Farmer (tp), Jimmy Cleveland (tb), Julius Watkins, David Amram (fhr), Gigi Gryce (as,arr), Lucky Thompson (ts,arr), Jerome Richardson (ts,fl), Danny Bank (bar), Tommy Flanagan (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Osie Johnson (d).
Then Pettiford put together another ambitious band that included Betty Glamann on harp and recorded the second ABC volume, The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi Fi, in August 1957. This album's lineup featured Ray Copeland and Art Farmer (tp), (with Kenny Dorham replacing Copeland on a track), Al Grey (tb), Julius Watkins and David Amram (fhr), Gigi Gryce (as,arr), Benny Golson (ts,arr), Jerome Richardson (ts,fl), Sahib Shihab (bar), Dick Katz (p), Betty Glamann (harp), Oscar Pettiford (b,cello), Whitey Mitchell (b) and Gus Johnson (d).
In the more than 12 months between these two studio recordings, Pettiford rehearsed for his second album during runs at Birdland, where the band was broadcast live multiple times on the radio. When I interviewed Dick Katz in 2008, here's what he had to say about Pettiford...
JazzWax: Who was the most exciting musician you’ve worked with?
Dick Katz: Probably Roy Eldridge. I consider him to be as big a giant as any you can name, including Louis [Armstrong]. Roy was an amazing artist. The other was Oscar Pettiford. And then Benny Carter.
On the new Uptown release, we have three new radio broadcasts of the second band that aired on May 18, May 26 and sometime between March and June 1957. This orchestra had a special elegance and delicate charm, thanks largely to Glamann's jazz harp. All of this grace was expressed in the band's opening theme, The Gentle Art of Love, written by Pettiford and arranged by Lucky Thompson. Other charts for the band were by Gigi Gryce, Benny Golson and several "unknown" orchestrators.
Also on this new two-CD set are five tracks of Pettiford's nonet that were broadcast from Birdland in September 1955, and 10 tracks by the Oscar Pettiford Sextet in May 1957, featuring Johnny Coles (tp), Sahib Shihab (bs), Hod O'Brien (p), Betty Glamann (harp), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Earl "Buster" Smith (d) at his Black Pearl club. [Photo above from Oscar Pettiford's Birdland band, with Betty Glamann, right]
By the end of 1957, the economics of such a band and the recording demands on the band's top musicians made the Oscar Pettiford Orchestra a short-lived but noble enterprise. As a result, it's wonderful that we now have additional live material of this gorgeous band. The sound quality of the release is terrific, and the material is soulful and muscular. We have Bob Sunenblick at Uptown to thank. Oscar Pettiford died in 1960.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Oscar Pettiford: New York City 1955-1958 (Uptown), a two-CD set, here.
It comes with a 40-page booklet with liner notes by Noal Cohen.
JazzWax clips: Here's Betty Glamann featured on Seventh Heaven in May 1957 from the new relase. The song is a reworking of Dizzy Gillespie's Tour de Force, written for his 1955 Verve album of the same name, with trumpeters Harry Edison and Roy Eldridge...
And here's the Oscar Pettiford Sextet playing Battle Axe in March 1958...
JazzWax Note: The two Oscar Pettiford Hi-Fi albums are available as part of a set offering six Pettiford albums for $12 here.
Or you can find the both Pettiford big band albums along with a superb booklet and liner notes here.
More JazzWax clips: Here's a clip of Smoke Signal featuring Art Farmer and Gig Gryce from the second ABC album with Betty Glamann on harp...
Here's The Gentle Art of Love, the band's theme, during a live Birdland appearance not on the new Uptown release...
And here's Pettiford on Austrian TV with guitarist Attila Zoller in 1959 playing the same song...
